They would ask me what actors I saw in the roles. I would tell them, and they’d say “Oh that’s interesting.” And that would be the end of it.
--Elmore Leonard, in 2000, on the extent of his input for Hollywood's adaptation of his novels

Monday, February 10, 2014

Eric Walters' "The Rule of Three"

Eric Walters, a former elementary-school teacher, is a bestselling children’s author in Canada. He is the founder of Creation of Hope, which provides care for orphans in the Makueni district of Kenya, and lives in Mississauga, Ontario.

The Rule of Three is the first in the trilogy about what happens when an air-borne computer virus takes out all the computers in the world. Instantly the entire planet is thrown back hundreds of years. There is no electricity, cars, trucks, airplanes, communications or telecommunications, no pumps for water or machines to produce and deliver food. My main character, Adam, is a high school senior. He is a fairly serious young man who is taking flying lessons because he hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a pilot. His mother is the captain of the local police station and becomes the defacto leader when the community is thrown into chaos.

There is also a retired neighbor, Herb, who claims he worked for the government as a ‘paper pusher’. In reality he was much more – a covert agent of the C.I.A. who has experience in societal breakdown – and the tools, weapons, supplies and mind-set to start to deal with the situation. He provides them with the instrumental means to transform their neighborhood into an armed camp to provide for and defend themselves, while Adam and his mother provide the moral compass to preserve and respect life.

Adam’s mother – the police captain – is a source of calm and quiet despite the fact she is dealing with a world that has gone completely wrong. I see her as being played by Meryl Streep. In part this is simply an admission that that woman could play anything and do it believably. I’d love to just watch her act out the situations I’ve crafted and to have my words come out of her mouth ... well ... that would be amazing.

Herb is so clear in my mind because I’ve already visualized him – Sean Connery. The original James Bond always seemed to be in control. Connery has an air about him that he knows what’s going to happen and he’s the man who will make it happen. Rather than being a senior citizen who sits on his porch and yells at kids to get off his grass, he has the ability to transform himself into what he was/is – a trained killer, a man who can do whatever needs to be done. Does anybody really want to get Sean Connery mad at them? As well he has the force of personality to bend the will of others to his cause. He could convince people of what needed to be done.

Adam is young – sixteen – so is far too young for most established actors. I see him being played by Chandler Riggs of Walking Dead. Not only does he have experience in this sort of big-time ‘end of the world’ story but he would bring to the character a sort of innocence that gives way to having to do what needs to be done – including killing people. I’ve been impressed with his evolution in the series and his skill as an actor. I’d think he’d make a great Adam.

“Compared to a novel, a film is like an economy pizza where there are no olives, no ham, no anchovies, no mushrooms, and all you’ve got is the dough.”
--Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin